Il processo formativo del piccoli centri storici. Dalla villa al villaggio, dal monastero al castello, al palazzo. The formation process of small historical towns. From villa to village, from monastery to castle, to palace

In accordance with a consolidated methodology, by analysing small historical towns and their landscape it is possible to acknowledge the urban fabric’s formation phases before considering their transformation project. The province of Rome’s so-called «small» historical towns are an important cultural resource and, together with their tangible and intangible cultural heritage, form a unique social capital which must be optimised, protected and above all documented, before an uncontrolled urban development will erase their historical memory for ever. The case of San Vito Romano, analysed in accordance with the «close correlation between ancient documents and the settlements’ physical conformation», is characterised by separate phases that can be interpreted with a certain clarity. The study presented herein focuses on the area between Tivoli, Subiaco and Palestrina: an area characterised by various ethnic ridges, the Aequan, the Hernic and the Latial ridges. Specifically, three small towns have been selected as case studies: Bellegra, San Vito Romano and Pisoniano, considered as an organic part of the same orographic ridge, the watershed between the hydrographic basins of the Rivers Aniene and Sacco which marked the boundary between various cultural areas as from ancient times.